GVK Hancock manager defends groundwater criticism

Pam has been at the Daily Mercury since March 2013 and has also worked as a journalist in Batemans Bay and Wellington both in NSW. And yes, that does make her a Blues supporter. Growing up she moved around different places including Sydney, Moree, Wollongong and lived for about two years as a high school student on a small island in Micronesia called Pohnpei. Pam loves water sports, including SCUBA diving, snorkelling and kayaking but her awful balance means she’ll never touch a surf board. Ever...

A GVK Hancock project manager has defended the company's groundwater reports when he took the witness stand during a trial between landholders and Gina Rinehart's Kevin's Corner coal mine.

Kevin's Corner coal mine executive general manager Andrew Mifflin gave evidence on Tuesday in a trial between the GVK Hancock mine and landholders and environmental groups.

The mine's effects on groundwater is one of the trial's main focuses and the lawyer Chris McGrath, representing environmental group Coast and Country in the legal case, questioned the GVK Hancock manager about the company's groundwater reports.

The links between the Kevin's Corner mine and GVK's other proposed Galilee Basin mine, Alpha, were also debated during the trial's second day.

When cross-examining Mr Mifflin, Dr McGrath referred to a previous court judgment about the Alpha coal mine that stated there was unsatisfactory evidence about groundwater impacts.

He asked Mr Mifflin if this feedback prompted the company to further analyse the groundwater impacts for the Kevin's Corner project.

"You're the project manager for Kevin's Corner; didn't it concern you that 'Hey we might need to do some more work here'?" Dr McGrath asked.

"No," Mr Mifflin replied.

Dr McGrath also said groundwater assessments for the Alpha and Kevin's Corner projects were conducted within two months of each other.

Mr Mifflin admitted there was a large overlap between the two groundwater assessments but said several reports were conducted in different stages.

Central Queensland grazier Bruce Currie, a landholder representing himself at the trial, has argued the Kevin's Corner mine would destroy his property's groundwater.

GVK Hancock released a statement on Tuesday saying the company had successfully negotiated legally-binding "make good arrangements" with properties surrounding its proposed mines that would hold the company legally liable if the property's groundwater was impacted.